Gaza suffering ‘disaster, catastrophe, crime against humanity,’ says Turkish president

ANKARA

Events that have been unfolding in the Gaza Strip amid over a month of Israeli attacks amount to “disaster, catastrophe, a crime against humanity,” Türkiye's president said on Friday.

Turkish people will keep supporting Gaza's residents as they refuse “to leave their homes and lands to the end with the strength we have also received from the voice of conscience,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a commemorative event for Türkiye’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Honoring the memory of Ataturk on the 85th anniversary of his passing at the event at the Bestepe National Congress and Cultural Center in capital Ankara, Erdogan also touched on issues like the EU, UN, Gaza conflict and national security.

“We are continuing the struggle to raise our country above the level of contemporary civilization, which is the will of Gazi Mustafa Kemal, in the spirit of National Struggle,” Erdogan said.

On Gaza, he warned that Israel is "trying our patience with delusions of the promised land, including the territory of our country, with threats to use nuclear weapons."

At least 10,812 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,412 children and 2,918 women. The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.

He also weighed in on relations between Ankara and the EU, underlining that they were not improving because the bloc had an “openly hostile attitude” towards Türkiye.

“Hope for EU overcoming strategic blindness is dwindling,” he said.